Mahabharata 3.201.9 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 9
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
परिचारकेषु यद् दत्तं वृथा दानानि षोडश । पिता आदि गुरुजन
paricārakeṣu yad dattaṃ vṛthā dānāni ṣoḍaśa | tamovṛtas tu yo dadyād bhayāt krodhāt tathaiva ca ||
Mārkaṇḍeya berkata: “Sedekah yang diberikan kepada penerima tertentu yang tidak layak menjadi sia-sia; ‘sedekah tanpa buah’ itu dikatakan berjumlah enam belas. Dan orang yang diselubungi tamas lalu memberi karena takut atau marah, akan merasakan akibat pemberian itu sebagai penderitaan dalam kelahiran mendatang (bahkan sejak dalam kandungan). Sebaliknya, ia yang memberi kepada brāhmaṇa yang sungguh layak akan menikmati buahnya sepadan dengan besarnya kebajikan.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is ethically evaluated not only by the act of giving but also by the recipient’s worthiness and the donor’s inner motive. Gifts made under tamas—especially from fear or anger—lead to painful karmic results, whereas gifts to worthy brāhmaṇas yield proportionate beneficial results.
In Mārkaṇḍeya’s discourse, he classifies certain donations as ‘vṛthā’ (fruitless), traditionally counted as sixteen types, and then contrasts tamasic giving (fear/anger-driven) with meritorious giving to worthy recipients, explaining their differing karmic outcomes.
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